Both individually and as a duo, Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson have sold over 400,000 albums in the
U.S. alone during the SoundScan era.
Regarded as pioneers in the folk and Americana genre, Ian & Sylvia first came into prominence in
the early 60s folk scenes in Yorkville and Greenwich Village, performing alongside such legends
as Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary and Odetta, as well as Canadian icons Gordon Lightfoot and
Joni Mitchell, and were headliners at the now famous 1963 Newport Festival.
Ian’s composition, “Four Strong Winds” is now considered a standard. A CBC Radio poll in 2005
named it “the most essential piece of Canadian music”. Sylvia’s song, “You Were On My Mind”,
was recorded by The We Five in 1965 and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On the 1968
“Nashville” album, Ian & Sylvia were among the first artists to record Country Rock Music with
top Nashville musicians, one month before the Byrds Recorded ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo”. They
are both in the Canadian music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, and
are both recipients of the Order of Canada.
In early 2019, Sylvia came across a collection of 1/4” analog tapes, recorded before live
audiences over a period of three or four years in the 70s. The result is a collection of 26
performances, most never previously released. This landmark collection titled “Ian & Sylvia, The
Lost Tapes”, a double CD package, is being released on September 6th, the day following both Ian
and Sylvia being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.